“Faithful” by Michael Thomas Ford from Men of the Mean Streets (Bold Strokes Books, 2011). Edited by Greg Herren and J.M. Redmann. I’ve heard it said that prior to the start of a chess tournament, while waiting in the green room, Bobby Fischer became irate with his...

“Mouse” by Jeffrey Round from Men of the Mean Streets (Bold Strokes Books). Edited by Greg Herren and J.M. Redmann. My first impression of this story was that it wasn’t particularly noir. Upon reading it a second time, however, I was able to see that I was being...

“Patience, Colorado” by Rob Byrnes from Men of the Mean Streets (Bold Strokes Books). Edited by Greg Herren and J.M. Redmann. In “Carver Comes Home” the author dialed his trademark humor way back. Here it’s switched off. I thought I wouldn’t like that, but on the...

“Keeping the Faith” by ‘Nathan Burgoine from Men of the Mean Streets (Bold Strokes Books, 2011). Edited by Greg Herren and J.M. Redmann. When I first heard that ‘Nathan had a story in this anthology I was excited, because I love his work, but also slightly...

“A Love Story” by Evan Mora from Best Lesbian Romance 2012 (Cleis Press). Edited by Radclyffe. This is a cute way to end the anthology. The main character and her lover are sitting under a tree in the park enjoying a beautiful day together. The lover asks to be told a...